A freind recently bought a condo and was shocked at all the hidden fees he got hit with at closing. It got me thinking about the explosion of hidden fees lately. It seems that companies from banks to cell phone providers and airlines have discovered hidden fees to be a great source of revenue.

The problem with hidden fees aside from the annoying shock factor is that they impede free market economics. How do you compare two cell phone plans when all you can get from the company is the price of the basic plan. It takes a lot of research to find out what your final price will be and if you want to use an internet search engine which sorts items by price you’re out of luck. What’s going on in the airline industry is even worse. First it was the fee for an extra checked bag, then for the first checked bag. First it was $25 then $50 and then $100. Now some airlines are charging for your carry-on. Pretty soon they will have an extra fee for wings on the plane.

I can understand extra fees for things that are truly extras but it should be against the law to charge a feee for something if more than half the average customers are going to need that item ( like the aforementioned wings or even dare I say a carry-on with your extra pair of underwear).

Rather than just grumble I decided to put a petition up on we the people. If I get 100,000 votes in the next 30 days the pres has to respond but I need 150 votes to get the petition into the public forum where it can get some life so if anyone is equally irked by these fees show the petition some love and sign up. Even better, have your friends sign it. Maybe it will get some traction before we have to start paying extra for the take off and landing.

Yeah, it’s a big problem here too in Canada.* Did America separate its taxes on purchasing? This is kind of an opposite tactic. They have unhidden the taxes that the companies used to be responsible to pay by requiring customers to pay the tax separately over and above the quoted prices. For businesses, this is good because they can offer what appears to be lower prices but it requires you to have to add the taxes in your head before purchasing.

Companies try to trick people by claiming the “starting” or lowest possible price just to get you to invest the time to walk into their domains (It’s a kind of opposite foot-in-the-door idea: you getting your foot in their door has the psychological effect of obliging you to invest.) The lowest price items are usually too minimally provisional for what people want. And any extra features, even if they are trivial, can jump the price up quite high.

* If you read further than this sentence, you automatically agree to the terms and conditions that I desire. You agree that I may have all of your money and assets. You agree that I own you and may be subject to selling you to the highest bidder should you not comply with my demands. I have the right to update this agreement at any time.

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I eat without fear of certain Death from The Tree of Knowledge because with wisdom, we may one day break free from its mortal curse.

Companies try to trick people by claiming the “starting” or lowest possible price just to get you to invest the time to walk into their domains (It’s a kind of opposite foot-in-the-door idea: you getting your foot in their door has the psychological effect of obliging you to invest.) The lowest price items are usually too minimally provisional for what people want. And any extra features, even if they are trivial, can jump the price up quite high.

It’s an old tactic called “bait and switch” which is illegal here but corporations have a way of getting around the law with hidden fees. Hotels are notorious for using it by advertising low room prices and then charging the customer a “resort fee” after registration. Check your hotel bill and you’ll find it. Apparently airlines use the same tactic, advertising low fares then tacking on additional fees for luggage and seats.

That’s what I mean. This problem is becoming more wide spread. As companies learn it can both increase revenue stream and reduce the consumer’s ability to comparison shop. Its a win-win for them.

This is the sort of thing that the government really should get involved in. The law could simply state that any fee must be included in the advertised price if it could reasonably be expected to be incurred by some percentage ( 75%) of non-employee consumers of that product or service. You have to pull out employees of the company because companies could use employee purchases to skew the numbers and they may be exempt from many of these fees.

Sign the petition and ask friends and family to sign it. I need to get 150 signatures before they will list the petition publicly and I don’t have 150 family and friends to do that.

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For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, obvious,.... and just plain wrong

That’s what I mean. This problem is becoming more wide spread. As companies learn it can both increase revenue stream and reduce the consumer’s ability to comparison shop. Its a win-win for them.

This is the sort of thing that the government really should get involved in. The law could simply state that any fee must be included in the advertised price if it could reasonably be expected to be incurred by some percentage ( 75%) of non-employee consumers of that product or service. You have to pull out employees of the company because companies could use employee purchases to skew the numbers and they may be exempt from many of these fees.

Sign the petition and ask friends and family to sign it. I need to get 150 signatures before they will list the petition publicly and I don’t have 150 family and friends to do that.

Seeing as how I do occasionally use airlines which are right now infamous for these practices, it seems to be in my best interest to sign. Not to mention virtually every other billing plan produced by a large company nowadays.

I’ll sign for sure. Perhaps I can get some of my friends and family members to take a look at this too….

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Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.